Metaphor and Literalism in Buddhism: The ... - misterdanger.net

THE DOCTRINAL DEVELOPMENT OF NIRVANA
Poussin 14 and E. J. Thomas 15 seem to have had the view that the use of upAdi
to refer to the aggregates could not be the oldest usage.
However, such evidence can be found within the early canon, though not
directly but indirectly. According to Gombrich, the term upAdi means objectively
‘fuel’, which denotes ‘the aggregates’ in a metaphorical structure that
embraces enlightenment and its opposite. 16
In this chapter, I deal with this problem of the two nirvana theory by
examining the etymology of upAdi in terms of its subjective and objective
meanings, the usage of upAdisesa within the context of nirvana and the usage
of upAdisesa within the context of the four noble persons, and by establishing
the differences between the non-returner and the two nirvana elements.
Etymology of upAdi
The word upAdi is usually found compounded with sesa, ‘remainder’. Despite
its phonetic similarity with upadhi, its synonym is upAdAna, which shares the
same etymology, deriving from upa A √dA (to give). 17
UpAdAna has both objective and subjective meanings. Objectively, it means
‘fuel, supply, provision’ or, literally, that material substratum by means of
which an active process is kept alive or going. 18 In the UpAdAnasutta in the
SaNyuttanikAya, the word upAdAna is used in the following way: ‘Verily such
a great bonfire, so fed, so supplied with fuel, would burn for a long while.’ 19
Subjectively, it means ‘drawing upon, grasping, holding on, grip, attachment’
in the sense that a fire clings to fuel in order to keep burning. Similarly, living
beings cling to food, or more precisely nourishment, to keep alive. This word
can also be used in terms of the process of rebirth. It is that by means of
which the process of rebirth is kept going or alive: that is to say, it is the
cause of rebirth.
In the later systematisation, upAdAna was used in this subjective sense
and was of four kinds: ‘Sensuous Clinging (kAmupAdAna), Clinging to Views
(diMMhupAdAna), Clinging to mere Rules and Ritual (sClabbatupAdAna), and
clinging to Personality-Belief (atta-vAdupAdAna)’. 20
This subjective meaning of upAdi is almost synonymous with a meaning of
upadhi 21 that is derived from a different verb: upa √dhA (to put). The literal
meaning of upadhi is ‘that on which something is laid or rests, basis, foundation,
substratum’. 22 According to PED, it designates in the oldest texts worldly
possessions and belongings, such as ‘wife and children, flocks and herds,
silver and gold’. 23 We can see this usage of upadhi in the famous dialogue
between the Buddha and Mara in the SuttanipAta:
‘One with sons rejoices because of (his) sons’, said Mara the evil one.
‘Similarly the cattle-owner rejoices because of (his) cows. For acquisitions
(upadhi) are joy for a man. Whoever is without acquisitions
does not rejoice.’
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